


Harry Potter's First Year

by hyrinshratu



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-01-24
Updated: 2014-03-21
Packaged: 2018-01-09 20:18:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 1,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1150367
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hyrinshratu/pseuds/hyrinshratu
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Harry Potter arrives at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to begin his first year, but when the truly unexpected happens, he finds himself adrift in a world he knows nothing about and struggling to find who his true friends are.</p><p>FYI, tags might be changing as time goes by.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

            The Great Hall sat still, no one breathing as they eagerly awaited the verdict of the Sorting Hat. Every child that came to Hogwarts underwent this rite of passage, but not every child was Harry Potter, the Boy-Who-Lived.

            At the staff table, many of the faculty waited with bated breath as well. Professors Sprout and Flitwick each hoped that he would be put in their Houses ( _finally, something to hold over Minera and Severus!_ they each thought _)_ while Professor McGonagall crossed her fingers (her hand hidden behind the parchment she held). Professor Snape, however, seemed prepared to unleash Fiendfyre on the Sorting Hat should even a syllable of the word “Slytherin” come forth.

            Finally after almost ten minutes, the hat moved. Every person in the Hall leaned forward to hear the Hat declare:

            “You’ve got to be joking! I’m not Sorting this boy into _any_ House!”


	2. Chapter 2

            A moment of silence hung over the room like a Damocles sword; a bubble perched on the point of a needle.

            Then the bubble popped.

            Confusion sounded from every seat in the Hall. Harry heard one voice, belonging to the girl from the train ( _What was her name again? That’s right, Hermione_ ), above the others proclaiming that “It says in _Hogwarts, A History_ that this has never happened! Students _always_ get Sorted!” Another voice, even louder, rang out “How can he not get Sorted? Isn’t that what Hufflepuff is for?” Harry dimly recognized the voice as belonging to the snotty blonde boy who had spoken to him outside the Hall.

            “SILENCE!” Dumbledore’s voice rang out. “Heads of Houses, come with me. Everyone else, TUCK IN!” Dumbledore walked around the staff table and yanked the Sorting Hat off of Harry's head before he lead the professors out of the Hall. Before anyone could comment further, a grand feast appeared on the tables. Everyone settled in to eat, the drama momentarily forgotten. Everyone except Harry, who sat on the stool looking like he was trying his hardest not to cry. After a moment, Hermione and the boy from the train came over to him, bearing several plates of food and goblets of juice, respectively. The three settled in on the floor in front of the staff table and began to eat.

 

            “This is unprecedented,” McGonagall said, shocked. “Never in the history of Hogwarts has a student not been Sorted at the Ceremony!”

            “What is the meaning of this?” Dumbledore demanded of the Hat as the group entered his office, holding it in front of his face and glaring at it.

            “Come now, Headmaster,” the Hat said. “You don’t expect me to Sort a boy like that, do you?”

            Dumbledore let out a string of profane mutterings as he threw the Hat to the floor. Flitwick walked over and spoke to it.

            “Surely, there have been students who arrived knowing less than young Mr. Potter. That’s no reason to not Sort him.”

            “Ask the Headmaster. He can tell you why.”

            Every eye turned to look at Dumbledore.

            “I’m sure I don’t know why.”

            “Yes, you do, Headmaster,” the Hat said. “And I know for a fact that Godric would have turned you into a turnip and sent you down to the kitchen to be prepared for dinner if he had heard a Gryffindor, _especially_ a former Head of his own House, tell such a blatant and transparent lie.”

            The looks turned into glares.

            “I have a suspicion, nothing more.”

            “Well then, Albus, tell us what you _suspect_ ,” McGonagall said, her voice barely containing her anger.

            “I _suspect_ that there is some sort of a connection between Harry and Voldemort. It seems likely that this connection has interfered with the Sorting.”

            “That’s only part of it,” the Hat said harshly. Every eye pivoted to it. “I can feel a piece of Thomas Riddle inside of that boy, and that part of him cries out to be Sorted into Slytherin. The boy, however, desires nothing more than to be put into Gryffindor. "At this, Snape scowled at a suddenly smirking McGonagall. "However, the boy is not ready to enter this school. He knows nothing of our world, and I will not put him into a House until he is prepared for it.”

            “What do you mean ‘not ready’?” Sprout asked. “We get Muggle-born students all the time who have never even heard of Muggle fiction about wizards, let alone the truth about magic. How can he be less ready than them?”

            “Ask Hagrid. He can tell you,” the Hat said before turning inert and becoming once more nothing but a piece of fabric.


	3. Chapter 3

The Heads of Houses sat still as Hagrid told about Harry's life before coming to Hogwarts: the cupboard, the beatings, the starvation, and how the Dursleys had tried their hardest to ensure that Harry didn't learn anything of magic.  
"I am forced to agree with the Hat," Dumbledore said gravely after a few moments. "Between the upbringing that Harry has had, coupled with the issues pertaining to this connection between the boy and Voldemort" he paused while everyone in the room -except Snape- gasped unconciously, "he can't be Sorted at this time."  
"What do we do, Albus?" McGonagall cried out. "We can't send him back to that wretched house!"  
"The boy must stay here," Dumbledore said. "But Houseless...what are we to do?"  
They all sat in thought for a moment, then Hagrid rose to his feet. "I'll take him in," he said. "Teach him everything I know. All about animals, and the forest, and as much as I can about magic."  
The stunned silence that fell was broken a few seconds later by a snort.  
Followed by a sputter.  
Followed by Snape letting out a laugh that started deep within himself and, almost against his will, fought its way out. "You!" he jeered. "Hagrid, you couldn't be trusted with a poodle, let alone the Potter boy!"  
"I can so be trusted!" Hagrid said, indignantly reaching into his pocket and pulling out a small wrapped item. "I went and got this here secret thing for the Headmaster without telling anyone, didn't I?"  
Snape's laughter ceased as they all stared in shock at the package he held.  
"I shouldn't have done that," Hagrid muttered. "I should not have done that."  
Dumbledore quickly took the package and shuffled it into a drawer in his desk.  
Flitwick was the first to recover. "I have an idea, Headmaster. It's a bit...unconventional, but I believe that it could work..."


	4. Chapter 4

When Dumbledore and the Heads returned to the Hall, they found Harry sitting next to the stool with two other students.   
"Why didn't you take a seat at one of the tables?" McGonagle asked Harry gently.   
"Since I wasn't Sorted, I didn't know what table to go to," Harry said softly, embarassed. "They were nice enough to bring me something to eat."   
"Ms. Granger, Mr. Longbottom, ten points each to Gryffindor for your kind treatment of Mr. Potter. Now, if you'll please return to your seats, we will get Mr. Potter sorted."   
Dumbledore stood at the podium, the Sorting Hat held upside down in his hands. "Mr. Potter, you have been chosen by the Hat to have...a most remarkable year. Because you don't show qualities that would affiliate you with any one House over another, you will instead be spending part of your year in _each_ House, so as to see where you truly belong during your stay here. We will Sort you again at the End of Year ceremony and see what the Hat says then. Ok?"  
"Ok," Harry said, his face registering as much understanding as if Dumbledore had just given him a crash course in quantum mechanics.  
Dumbledore chuckled and produced for stones from the air; three red and one white. "Whichever Head of House draws the white stone shall be the first to have Harry Potter as a member of their House." He dropped them into the Sorting Hat and gave it a hearty shake before holding it out for the Heads of Houses. They reached in together and each withdrew a stone. After an unspoken count, they opened their hands simultaneously.  
  
Three of the tables erupted in outrage, while the fourth cried out in disgust.  
  
Barely heard over the tumult, Snape muttered, "Oh, _goody_."

**Author's Note:**

> Any and all feedback is appreciated.


End file.
